Stoneman runs away with Brands Hatch victory

Dean Stoneman executed the second step of his championship attack
program with ease in today's FIA Formula Two race at Brands Hatch, the
first of two this weekend. Following on his pole position yesterday, the
convincing victory moved him to...

Dean Stoneman executed the second step of his championship attack
program with ease in today's FIA Formula Two race at Brands Hatch, the
first of two this weekend. Following on his pole position yesterday, the
convincing victory moved him to within five points of the championship
lead.

Dean Stoneman.

Photo by FIA Formula Two Championship.

The championship fight is far from over, but this morning was all
Stoneman as the 19-year-old Briton pulled away from the field with ease
at the beginning of the race, and simply drove off into the distance in
spite of not using any of his extra boost during the race.

After easing off in the last few laps of the race, Stoneman's lead dropped
from 13 seconds to 8.2 seconds at the chequered flag, but it likely
could have been well over 15 seconds had he continued to push until the
end.

Sergey Afanasiev's hopes were smashed early, as the second-place
starter's car bogged down once the lights went greeen. The Russian
looked like he might be able to defend his position, but Jack Clarke
made his way past Afanasiev into second place in the first corner.

However, the worse for the Russian followed, as Afanasiev and Will Bratt
tried to occupy the same ground into the next corner, Druids Bend. The
wheel-to-wheel contact throw Bratt's car into the air briefly, though he
landed safely on four wheels and was able to continue. Both Bratt and
Afanasiev lost momentum in the incident, though, and Ivana Samarin and Tom
Gladdis were able to take advantage to move into third and fourth places.

Clarke was able to keep well clear of Samarin and Gladdis, but the
latter two were soon to be harassed by Bratt and Afanasiev. Bratt waited
patiently for an opening as Samarin and Gladdis fought for third place,
and halfway through the race the opportunity was handed to him, as
Gladdis ran wide into Graham Hill Bend.

Samarin, Bratt and Gladdis eventually finished in a tight pack spanned
by little more than seven tenths of a second, with Afanasiev just
another 1.5 seconds back.

Nicola de Marco took seventh, just barely holding off championship
leader Jolyon Palmer in eighth.

In the qualifying for tomorrow's second race, Stoneman's session didn't
go according to plan, as his hot laps were interrupted by red flags,
triggered by various on-track incidents. Seventh place on the grid, two
behind Palmer, will make tomorro'w second race a much more challenging
one for Stoneman.

Instead, it'll be Lithuania's Kazim Vasiliauskas on the pole position
tomorrow, with Philipp Eng sharing the front row with him. Gladdis and
Afanasiev will start third and fourth, ahead of Palmer and Bratt.